


Light Fall

by Larkety



Series: Lark's Null!AU [1]
Category: Mario & Luigi RPG (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Original Characters usually are villians or serve minor roles, Slow Updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27702230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larkety/pseuds/Larkety
Summary: Called upon by Cobalt Star, Starlow sets out to defeat a dark menace.  With the aid of her friends, she plans on returning to Star Haven victorious.Yet with odd things happening over the course of their journey, the group of heroes start to realize something is wrong...Something else is happening, they just don't know what.
Series: Lark's Null!AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025980
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue~And So They Thought

**Author's Note:**

> Heya it's me Lark and I've come to post another work, this time with chapters that will probably come out around once a month due to school and general laziness.
> 
> I should note before we continue that Cobalt Star is a real person in most of my works including this one and serves as the first star sage. Star sages are the leaders of star haven and are powerful entities that take various shapes and forms in my stories.
> 
> With that out of the way, onto the prologue!

Cobalt Star was well known amongst Star Haven as being the most powerful sage, as well as being the oldest star sage alive. They were praised far and wide, despite not many knowing who exactly they were.

Despite not being attached to Star Haven as much as they wanted and in general despising the council system their late friend had set up, the star sage did find themselves communicating with the council often, whether it be discussing prophecies, making sure all the stars were healthy and making sure nothing was putting the lives of everyone in jeopardy.

Two things that they kept to themselves, however, was a book and a blade.

Cobalt Star sighed, hands gently running over the cover of the ancient book. Their eyes gazed outside the window, looking down at the beautiful star-filled lands of Star Haven below.

They felt the engravings on the old leather book, gently opening the cover, looking down at the book in their hands.

They let in a deep breath, reading the messily scrawled cursive on the thick papyrus. They made sure to be careful while they flipped through the pages, trying not to tear the relatively fragile papyrus paper that made up one-third of the pages.

They flipped through the pages, making their way to the back of the book. They already knew the contents of the pages, hell, they could likely recite the first pages entirely from memory due to the number of times they read the ancient novel.

Despite their knowledge of the book, they still wanted to make sure the words seared in their brain were still there...

 _Maybe the words are gone._ They thought to themselves. _Maybe I was imagining it... It cannot be true... Not now._

Alas, they were proven wrong as they found themselves on the last written page, eyes scanning the paper and finding the familiar dark blue words written on the page, seemingly written in a frenzy. 

_'The queen is dead and the king is going insane. I will be surprised if we live through these dark times._

_I am about to lead my platoon into the first battle... Hopefully, we can weaken the thing and the king can seal it away... But I worry... The king losing his partner has shaken him up severally... He may not be able to successfully seal the monstrosity away._

_Even then, how many lives will be lost weakening it? Will the seal hold forever? What will happen with all the light magic that has been released from the queen's death? Will the king live, and move on?_

_Is this really the end...?_

_I hope dearly that the world lives on, and as grim as things look at the current moment, I believe soon this will be over, but I don't believe this will be the last time the world is in peril._

_In this upcoming battle, I'll likely die, but I'd like to write down the last prophecy the queen has spoken to me and me exclusively,_

_"The day the moon fails to fall,_

_A corrupted being will try to plague the world in darkness._

_Although this is the least of your worries,_

_I'd suggest you deal with it in a hurry._

_With the curse of darkness and incarnation of light and the help of heroes, hidden and in sight,_

_Find the artifacts, protect the dark and light._

_With the world safe, head off to the Hidden Sea and raise the castle hidden in its depths._

_Prepare to fight for the world against the greatest threat of them all_

_Not of light or dark,_

_but nothing at all."_

_I am not aware fully what the prophecy is implying or when it will become relevant, but I do fear the worst for my ancestors._

_Long in the past, I've put a seal of preservation on this book, as to keep it intact and make it resistant to the consequences of time._

_I hope dearly if someone is reading this, they take this prophecy seriously, and I hope the light and the darkness guide your path.'_

They stared at the pages before gently shutting the book, hiding it in a box under their bed before looking back outside.

It had been dark for thirty hours, the sun just now rising.

They dug their nails into their palms before making their way to the exit of the room, pushing the door open and shutting it quietly behind them. They made their way down the hall, footsteps silent and aura stifled as they went downstairs. Once they were downstairs they called out to a star sprite carrying a stack of papers. 

The dark-hued sprite whipped around, eyes wide as they stuttered out, "A-ah! Mx. Cobalt Star! How can I be of assistance?"

"I need you to fetch Miss Starlow and bring her to my quarters this instant." The star sage turned, about to walk back up the stairs.

"But Mx... What if she..." The star sprite started.

Cobalt Star turned around before calmly saying, "She won't reject if she knows what's good for her. Just say it is my commands and she'll come."

The star sprite nodded. "O-okay Mx!"

Once the star sprite flew off, leaving Cobalt Star alone, they sighed, face dropping and fists unclenching. They wished that their friend was here. She would know what to do... Maybe she'd find a way to avoid this altogether.

They made their way back upstairs, letting out another shaky sigh.

_Starlow, my representative, I dearly hope you're ready... For all of our sakes._

_If you're not..._

_We are all doomed._


	2. Chapter One~Fate Bestowed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starlow is summoned to Cobalt Star's quarters and given a quest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly this is basically like a prologue part 2 but it's slightly needed so here we go bois
> 
> Also more info that I show say is that Star Roads are how star beings(stars, star sprites, and star sages) usually get from star haven to the overworld and back.
> 
> Another bit of info is that Starlow and many other star sprites use either telekenisis or magically summoned gloves in order to do some tasks.

Starlow lazily dozed on her windowsill, looking out across the starry lands that rested upon thick, fluffy, dark clouds. 

Drowsiness from her slumber clung onto her as she stared out her window with half-lidded eyes. She took notice of how the clouds were dark, signifying that it was dark out. It was odd, considering how she just went to sleep, but she just chalked it up to her not sleeping as long as she usually did.

She forced herself up onto her feet, blinking before shaking her head, trying to get rid of the drowsiness. She pushed herself up into the air, hovering.

She looked around her small study, making her way to her desk, trying to remember what she was doing. She looked at the papers that lay neatly on the desk in a small stack. She quickly read over the page on the top of the stack.

She picked up the stack, realizing that it was a report for the head sage. When she went to leave, she heard someone knock loudly on the front door.

With a frustrated sigh, the star sprite stored the paper in her hammerspace before rushing to the door, flinging it open. She blinked, seeing a black star sprite with magenta eyes staring at her.

"Oh, hello Flouar. How are you?" Starlow asked.

They slowly said, "I'm good... But uhm... I need to tell you something..."

"What do you need to tell me?" She asked interest piqued. The fellow Star Sprite seemed to get slightly more nervous, glancing at the papers in their hands and trying to avoid eye content with the representative. She began to get impatient, snapping and sharply asking, "What? Spit it out!"

"U-Uhm, you n-need to go to the Council Building." They stammered out.

"Why? Is Sir Voilla asking for the report again for the fifteenth damned time?" She asked, a slight bit of anger leeching in her tone as she spat out the Sage Council leader's name.

Flouar winced. They knew that this was a bad idea. Their thoughts briefly wandered, wondering why Cobalt Star didn't simply come and fetch the sharp-tongued star sprite themselves. They were quick to snap back into reality, quietly saying, "No... Mx. Cobalt Star has summoned you. There i-is no details... J-just that you need to go there..."

"Oh, well why didn't you say so!" Starlow exclaimed, eyes widening before rushing out the door, yelling over her shoulder, "Thank you Flouar!"

Flouar watched as the representative flew off with a sigh, softly closing the door she forgot to shut behind her.

As they went back down the hall, they found their mind wandering again. They began to think why Cobalt Star summoned Starlow in the first place before dismissing it was a representative matter.

|~•~|

Starlow found herself hovering down the quiet, elegant hallways of the Council Building. She spotted the door to Cobalt Star's room and rushed over to it, knocking on the dark oaken door.

After waiting for a moment, she went to knock again, only for the door to swing open. Standing in the doorframe was a human-like character. Their dark blue eyes which seemed to contain the universe's stars within them gazed upon her, scanning over her until they said, "Ah, Starlow. Come inside, I wish to speak with you."

They turned, their pale blue silken robes letting off a soft swish when they did so, dragging behind them as they hovered further into the room. Starlow was quick to follow after closing the door behind her, asking, "What do you need more for? What's going on?"

"I have a very important task for you." They stated, not turning to face the star sprite as they entered the small, modest-looking living room. "Wait here, I need to retrieve something." The star sage ordered before dipping into a room which she assumed was their bedroom, leaving Starlow alone.

She gazed around the room before letting out a small groan under her breath. She didn't know why Cobalt Star was being vague. It'd be better if they just sent a letter or just told her straight up what was going on.

After waiting for a moment or two, Cobalt Star emerged from their room, carrying a box. They waved Starlow over, walking over to a table, and sitting down. The star sprite hovered over, blinking at the box before asking, "What's the box for?"

The sage shushed her before taking the lid off the box, revealing a book and something wrapped in a thick cloth. They took out the item wrapped in cloth, closing the box and setting it to the side. They offered the object to Starlow, who took it, looking at it in confusion. 

"Take off the cloth." Cobalt Star commanded in a soft voice. The star sprite did as told, unwrapping the thick black cloth from around the mystery item. Finally freeing it from its silken prison, her eyes widening as she let out a small gasp.

A sharp blade laid in front of her. Its crossbar was made of obsidian, cradling a blazing orange orb which was wrapped by two razor-sharp prongs, the blade being built around it. Said blade was made of some hard, pure white substance that let out a pale glow.

She picked up the blade by its oaken hilt, inspecting it with wide eyes. After a few moments, she turned to look at Cobalt Star who watched her sadly. She lightly gestured at them with the blade, asking "What is this...?"

"It's called the Dayrise. A hero of pure heart wielded it eons ago." They responded. "I believe you are the next wielder of the blade."

"Excuse me, what?!" Starlow exclaimed, star-shaped headpiece flashing. "Why me of all people? What am I supposed to do with this damned thing?"

"Starlow." They hissed, their fists clenching on the table. "Calm yourself. All will be explained in due time... All you need to know for now is that the blade chose you and your mission."

Her teeth clenched and she sharply said, "Yeah, go on, continue to hide things because hiding things went SO well last time!" Cobalt Star sharply glared at her, effectively shutting her up and making her grumble out, "Okay, what do I have to do."

"Have you been informed of the spikes of elemental magic that have been occurring recently?" They asked. Starlow slowly nodded and they continued, "I believe that was caused by a growing dark power north-west of the Mushroom Kingdom. Your duty is to find the source of the dark energy and destroy it then report back to me."

She slowly nodded, "Okay Cobalt Star, I promise I won't let you down on this one!"

A small smile spread on their face, quickly fading as they got up, commanding firmly, "Follow me." She followed behind them as they made their way to an open balcony, revealing almost all of Star Haven spread out in front of them. They took out a handheld telescope and gave it to Starlow, instructing, "Look towards the north-east, where the clouds break."

She nodded, stowing away the Dayrise and holding the telescope to her right eye, looking north-east. She almost gasped in surprise at the intense zoom of the simple telescope. She also took note of how her vision was tinted in various colors.

Hands lightly grabbed the telescope, moving it to a certain location. She heard Cobalt Star softly say, "Zoom in, you should be able to see the... issue... at hand, and possibly a starting point."

Starlow nodded, adjusting the telescope and seeing the view through it. Her eyes widened in recognition as she saw the figure of the Dream Isle, better known as the Pi'illo Kingdom, laid out in her vision. She noticed how the island and the surrounding waters were absorbed in a light pink tint that faded at the edges. Something slightly concerning, however, was a growing magenta splotch with twinges of red, somewhere near Mushrise Park.

Cobalt Star saw the representative's frown and informed, "The tints signify the type of energy that is in that area. The pink tint that you are seeing is dream magic."

"What is magenta and red then...?" She asked.

"Magenta is draconic energy and red is fire energy." They responded. "I believe Dream Isle will be the source of your first lead, especially if there are large amounts of foreign energy." They paused before quietly saying, "There may be something terribly wrong going down there..."

"But the star road to Dream Isle is in Somnom Woods! I'll never get to Mushrise Park in time!" Starlow exclaimed, lowering the telescope and turning to Cobalt Star with a panicked look.

At first, they stared at her, before covering their mouth as they snickered. Snickers turned to giggles causing Starlow tilted her head in confusion, asking "Why are you giggling like that! This is a serious situation! What if people get hurt!?"

"Eheh... My apologies." They said, calming down. "It's just that your lack of knowledge is stunning sometimes, especially for a bookworm such as you."

"Lack of knowledge? I'd like to think that if there was another star road on the island, I'd know immediately." She snapped.

"Ahaha! That's where you're lacking knowledge!" They laughed out. "There is no need to use the star road, why would you?"

Starlow stared at them before flatly saying, "Your age is showing Cobalt Star."

"Maybe it is, but I do believe you're forgetting Star Falling." They said with a grin. When Starlow gave them a blank look of confusion, they continued, "Star Falling is an old technique. It costs a noticeable amount of energy but can be used to easily and quickly travel to any point below us."

"Well, then, how do I do it?" She asked.

With a smile, they said, "Well, you know how to dash, correct?" She nodded and they continued, "Well, it is similar to a dash, but you have to pour more energy into it. With the stored up energy and gravity, you should be able to get to Mushrise Park in no time."

"Alright, seems doable!" Starlow said. She went to hand Cobalt Star the telescope, only for them to push it back into her hands. "Don't you want it?"

"I do..." They softly said, eyes looking back at the door before locking eyes with hers. "That telescope is dear to me, but I believe it may provide some use in your journey... Please, take care of it..." When the star sprite nodded, they put on a sad smile, saying, "You should get going. I think the Dream Isle needs a hero of light, no?"

"Yeah, they do!" Starlow said, turning to leave. She glanced back at the star sage, watching them as they stared down at the lands before saying, "Don't worry, I'll take care of this, just you wait."

Once they heard the door close behind them, they sighed, staring out at Star Haven. Their eyes slowly closed, vision briefly flashing with imagines before they fell backwards, passing out.


	3. Chapter Two~To Fight A Fire Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dragons suddenly appearing wasn't normal, but it was still something they needed to deal with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we are into the good stuff thats actually intresting, horray!
> 
> Also sorry in advanced if this is written somewhat poorly, I am bad at writing fight scenes especially with multiple characters.

So many things had happened so quickly to the point where Mario had no idea what was going on.

He remembered how all this started. They were walking to Somnom Woods, something about checking on some pi'illos in the woods because they hadn't been responding in the last few days. He and his brother had tagged along, just to make sure Dreambert and Peach would be safe.

Everything was normal if you ignored the 'corruptions' Mario and Peach acquired. They were talking, catching up, taking time to just talk outside of a serious meeting about trade routes, and the elemental corruption crisis that made the red-clad plumber's head spin.

The casual conversation was a nice change of pace and a highly welcome one, and everything was fine.

Until it wasn't.

Mario remembered Luigi pointing out something in the sky and everyone else dismissing it as a bird or a blimp. He remembered seeing Luigi falling relatively quiet, constantly looking at the sky and fidgetting. He remembered thinking, _'Why is he so concerned over a bird?'_

Now he knew why.

It wasn't a bird.

_It was a **dragon.**_

The shockwave from its landing and the aura it radiated made everyone stumble. The roar the beast let out threatened to burst his eardrums and if the energy it let out didn't give him a headache, the loud booming noise certainly did.

He was quick to get onto his feet, taking out his hammer and rushed forwards. He lept and attempted to swing at the thing with his hammer only for it to raise a forearm and smash him out of the air into the grass.

He laid there, stunned, his chest aching from the force of being slammed down. He managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees, watching with half-lidded eyes as vines wrapped around the dragon's legs and wings, attempting to pin it down only for it to trash, breaking the vines.

Now aggravated, it let out a jet of flames. He could hear the shrieks and felt rage boil up inside him. How dare this dragon just decide to waltz right up and land and just try to terrorize everyone like it owned the place!

He managed to get to his feet, sparks flickered to life around his fingertips, gathering and growing as anger continued to bubble up inside his chest. He flicked his tail before slamming it to the ground while opening his wings, both being obtained by his recent corruption.

With one powerful downbeat, he dashed forwards, lunging upwards as flames lit up in his palms from the glowing embers that had been flickering at his fingertips. The flames then erupted forwards in brilliant blasts of red and orange flames tipped with white from the intensity and heat he poured into it.

The dragon whirled towards the flame, wincing in pain and taking the firey onslaught before letting out a cry in pain, the heat becoming unbearable. Their wings flared open, them flying upwards as Mario landed, the fire fading as his energy depleted, he ran back from the dragon which was hatefully glared down at him, large wings blotting out the sun. Its throat glowed brightly as flames and heat gathered within. He found himself frozen in place, too tired to move. He scrunched his eyes shut tight and lifted his wings and arms to block, preparing to be burnt to a crisp...

But no heat came.

He opened his eyes to see a large bubble-like shield and standing in front of him was Dreambert.

The prince spared a glance at him, yelling over his shoulder, "Hey, Mario, can you... How do I put this... STOP BEING AS STUPID?"

"If by stupid you mean stop setting things on fire..." Mario started, rushing forwards as the force field dissolved, "THEN YOU GOT THE WRONG GUY!"

Flames eagerly flew out of his hands, he found himself laughing as he heard Dreambert yell some choice words at him and the dragon whirled around at him.

He decided to slightly respect the dream prince's wishes. Instead of aiming at the thick armored scales, he directed his flames towards the webbing of its wings. It roared in frustration before lightning lighting up most of its dark frame as it struck it. It roared and spasmed in agony before falling relatively silent.

Everything went still for a second, and he questioned to nobody in particular, "Uhm... Is it dead?"

If someone was going to answer, they didn't have a chance to.

A wave of magic rippled from the dragon's limp body. Mario's pupils turned into slits as the second wave came. He suddenly felt an urge to run and hide, to find a tunnel to a deep cave so he could stay there and hide from what may happen next.

The dragon's veins lit up with a pale red glow, odd thin clouds of reddish and purple smoke forming around its body. Over time, more and more of the fog gathered, becoming thicker and thicker as their veins glowed brighter and brighter. Mario noticed after a few seconds that the thing was growing, and it didn't appear to be stopping.

He looked around, spotting a few stray civilians were staring at the beast, a mix of curiosity and fear in their expression as they attempted to put a fair amount of distance between the monster and themselves. He prepared himself to go and get them to a safe spot if things went bad.

He also saw his brother and friends, Luigi trying to drag the princess off with her lightly protesting and reaching into the folds in her dress, taking out one of her war fans. They'd be fine, he decided. He turned his gaze to Dreambert, who looked at the beast with wide eyes, giving it a deer in headlights look. He could've sworn he saw something move under his shirt, trying to escape.

Immediately he ditched his plan of rescuing some of the passersby and made his way over to his friend's side, he gently grabbed and squeezed his hand, softly saying, "Don't worry, we got this."

Briefly looking back now, he realized how stupid he was.

Apparently, when random dragons drop from the sky, get knocked out, start growing and have glowing veins, you aren't going to have the best odds of winning.

The dragon stumbled to its claws after a while, thick clouds still surrounding their legs and talons. Its eyes were wide open and glazed over, glowing with a dark light.

Dreambert muttered in disbelief and shock, "We are going to be fine against that...?"

"Probably not, honestly." Mario said with a shrug before glancing at his hammer, abandoned to the side in the grass. He decided against grabbing it and continued, "I mean, we have a chance, I do have a good track record of not dying despite every odd saying otherwise!"

Dreambert scoffed, quickly asking, "Where is your hammer?" When Mario just slowly blinked, he let a frustrated sigh, "Okay, stay close to me, so I can heal you if anything goes wrong."

"Aight!" Mario chirped, eyes holding a smile before rushing forwards, sizing up the dragon, looking for any weaknesses in its thickly platted form.

Dreambert had no troubles with keeping up, asking him, "Any particular area we should aim for?"

"You think I'm smart enough to guess that?"

"Mario, you've saved _multiple_ kingdoms, how do you not know how to spot weaknesses? Even _I_ can do that."

"Then why don't _you_ do it?"

Suddenly the prince pulled him down while crouching, forming a shield. Before long, scalding hot flames pelted at the iridescent barrier. Mario held the prince close to him, wings covering most of his body with ease.

They probably wouldn't do anything but one could hope, right?

He flinched slightly as he heard the shield crack, large splinters forming on its surface. He heard Dreambert breathe out beside him, "Get prepared to roll back and run..."

He simply nodded, retracting his wing from the other man's back, assuming that it would just make it harder for him to roll.

The shield continued to shatter and crack before it broke with a deafening crash.

When that happened, two things also happened.

One, the flames stopped.

Two, there was a large shake and large clouds of dust surrounded one area.

The two looked towards the area and so did the dragon, eyes narrowed as it took a few paces back. The dust settled and standing in the impact site with blazing blue eyes...

Was Starlow.

And here they were.

A large dragon who seemed paralyzed, two plumbers, two members of separate royalty, and a star sprite who fell from the sky.

Immediately Dreambert was on his feet and Mario staggered up as well. He winced as pain prodded him in his wing, which not so luckily got singed slightly on the membrane. The prince looked at him in slight concern before he signaled that he was fine. He stared at him skeptically before turning back to Starlow, calling out, "Starlow?! What are you doing here?"

The star sprite in question whirled around to face him, eyes lighting up in joy upon seeing him. Internally, Mario groaned. If this one dragon occurrence turned into a whole adventure with the two of them, they'd probably spend half their time pining over each other.

Considering the fact Starlow appeared pointed directly down that path.

"I am here to help, you dunce!" She shouted back in a semi-serious, semi-joking tone. She hovered in the air, briefly showing a flash of a glimmering white metal of sorts she held in one of her gloved hands(wait, when could she do that? Why didn't she use that on any of their other adven-)

The dragon seemed to recover from its sudden paralysis, looking at Starlow with an odd form of hate in its dark eyes. She met its stare with her usual firey look, grip on the weapon on the weapon in her hands tightening as she raised it, the light reflecting off of its perfectly white surface.

She rushed forwards and sliced at the beast only for it to try to swipe her away. She darted out of the way and Dreambert muttered next to him, "She probably could've kept going... Or parried..."

"It's a massive dragon, what is she supposed to do?" Mario huffed.

"Not die I suppose?" He shrugged. "Maybe help us kill the damned thing before it decides to fly down to Wake Port or Somnom Woods and burn everything?"

"Then go help your little sweetheart and I'll go make sure Luigi and Peach are okay." Mario said in a firm tone, trying his best not to sound too strict. Good thing the prince seemed more focused on the fact that he called him and their starry friend 'sweethearts', his cheeks being dusted by a crimson blush.

"I-I don't like her like that, you should know that..." He grumbled in defense. "And you are one to talk, Mr. I Am Totally Not Trying To Find The Right Time To Purpose To The Princess Which I Haven't Done Or Attempted In The Three Years I've Loved Her For."

Mario stared at him for a few heartbeats before letting out a slow, frustrated sigh, trying not to reveal how much that _hurt_ because it was too _true_. "Let's just deal with the dragon, but afterwords I WILL curb stomp you in the training room, and saying otherwise is NOT an option." He quickly spat out. Before Dreambert could get out another word in edgewise, he dashed off.

He spotted a flash of Peach's pink dress and bolted towards it. A roar sounded in his ears as he heard yells, screams in both anger and something that seemed to be... Panic?

He turned slightly, spotting the dragon, its throat glowing a bright neon red as it reared up onto its hind legs, staring right at him.

Something told him that this may or may not be a bad thing and that something had also told him to RUN FASTER OR _GET BURNED._

He threw himself forwards, scrambling back as fire blasted where he just was moments prior. Heat washed over his body as his eyes watered from watching the bright flames. He felt hands grab him from under his arms and help lift him onto his feet.

He stumbled before regaining his balance as the dragon stopped breathing fire. It seemed preoccupied dealing with the other two so he relaxed, turning and facing Luigi who's eyes held worry and confusion

"You okay bro?" He asked softly. When Mario nodded with a small grin he continued, "Why is Starlow here?"

"To help us with the massive dragon? I dunno. It's probably something more but I am pretty sure the dragon is more important." Mario paused before slowly questioning, "Where is the princess...?"

"I told her to go to Bedsmith's place and wait till we get back to her," Luigi answered. Mario nodded, relieved to hear that the Princess was fine.

"Okay, good. Now we just gotta deal with that..." Mario said before perking up. "Wait, don't we still have-"

"Mario. No."

"MARIO YES!"

Luigi chased Mario down as he ran towards the dragon, taking out a bright silvery flower. The red-clad plumber knew a hundred percent that this would likely go horribly wrong but he wasn't one to have the best thought process.

Plus, if the dragon is dead, who really cares about how it died?

He gripped the flower, taking out another and throwing it at Luigi, calling out, "Let's get this over with!"

"MARIO, THIS ISN'T A GOOD-" Luigi called out, being interrupted as Mario's voice called over him.

"YEAH BUT WHO CARES!"

Luigi grumbled, just sucking it up and following Mario while clenching the flower tightly. Both brothers felt magic course through their bodies, leaving behind a soft chill as their attires changed colors to fit the theme of the silvery and cool blue flowers that they had activated.

Mario lept forwards throwing out orbs of silvery ice at the thing's claws, trying to root it in place as well as throwing it upwards, forming a cloud. Luigi did something similar, but instead of throwing the energy at its claws, he threw it at its jaws and the cloud.

As the cloud grew and grew, it lit up occasionally with red and green lightning, the bros throwing their orbs when their respective colors flashed.

The other two seemed to notice with Dreambert backing out of the way while Starlow took the opportunity to get in extra hits, cracking and damaging the thing's scales with relative ease. Before long she did back up as well, settling next to Dreambert and watching the cloud with anticipation as it continued to grow, getting larger and larger as more and more ice was poured into it.

The dragon seemed to pick up on the issue yet couldn't do much to fight against the ice continuing to build up on its only methods of offense. Luckily for it, its wings were relatively ignored and spared from the onslaught of ice hammering against its snout and claws. It raised its wings to cover its head, allowing its wings to take the hits from ice as it attempted to open its mouth to melt the ice encasing it.

Before long, the power-up that the brothers had used were gone and they waited patiently. Mario watched the cloud with bated breath as the dragon continued to struggle to open its jaws as the clouds loomed over it. It continued to struggle, even when the rain from the cloud poured down and the area went eerily cold. The water seeped into the dragon's cracked and damaged scales as the temperature got colder, freezing the water and expanding the cracks across the scales, widening them.

The dragon let out a roar of agony, the ice around its snout shattering and breaking off dramatically as it fired flames in the air, ash raining downwards. The ice melted away from the heat it suddenly emitted, forming a puddle around its claws. It whirled around and smashed its tail into Mario, sending him flying back with an audible snap as one or more of his ribs broke from the force.

The plumber was forced on the ground a few feet away as the pain flared through his body. He gasped for air as his vision blurred. Fire and smoke filled his darkening vision before long as the dragon entered an enraged status, burning everything in sight. With the now heavy smoke filling his lungs and the pain from breaking atleast one bone, he shut his eyes and let darkness take him in its cool embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you cant tell, people passing out will probably be an ongoing occurance


	4. Chapter Three~Meaningless Banter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets together and talk about what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo its 2021 and now I have a new chapter, horray!
> 
> Too bad I am not actually that proud of this one, mostly because most of it is meaningless, hence the name, Meaningless Banter. I could probably cut out half the chapter and still get the message out, but I couldn't figure out how to do it, so here we are.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this one, also comments give me motivation so any comments for criticism or just telling me how you felt about the chapter is greatly appreciated :D

When Mario awoke, he felt a mix of numbness and slight pain. He went to sit up until a voice sharply said, "Don't you dare get up." He huffed, laying back down. The voice continued, "So, what happened out there? The Prince didn't seem to want to talk about it."

"Just a massive dragon. No big deal..." Mario paused after saying that, slowly realizing what he said. "Never mind, that is probably a big deal."

"Understatement of the year." They scoffed. "When that starry lad said that you were dumber than a bag of hammers, I didn't expect it to be true."

The plumber shot up despite his better judgment saying he shouldn't. He winced as pain flared up in his chest and said through gritted teeth, "I'm not that stupid..."

"Oh, you are." The voice chimed. It came from the side room attached to the quiet room _(Mario assumed it was the medics, but he had never been so he didn't know for sure.)_ He watched the door frame as a pi'illo walked out. They were donned in a medical outfit and their pillow was white with ornate golden patterns. In their pale hands they held a flask as their sharp eyes glared at him. "I thought I heavily implied that you were not to sit up." They grumbled in frustration.

"Well, I feel fine, so it shouldn't be a problem... Right?" He asked. They stared at him for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh, causing him to mutter, "What?"

"Sir, you broke several ribs. You are lucky you are awake at the moment." The doctor said with a small roll of their eyes. "Then again, I have mastered my craft, so I doubt you won't be here for too much longer."

"Who even are you?" Mario questioned.

"I am Sueno, the castle medic." She said before sighing. "Well, assistant medic. Dockep was... Let's say too busy... To handle you. He is the main medic. Honestly, you are lucky that prick wasn't handling you." She shoved the flask into Mario's hands, which he noticed were ungloved. As he began to sip at liquid inside, the doctor mentioned, "Hey, I should likely warn you that it is quite-" He spat out some of the liquid, sticking out his tongue. "-Bitter..."

"You could've warned me before I drank it!" Mario sputtered, coughing slightly.

Sueno puffed up her cheeks and spun with a quiet swoosh of her cloak, saying in an aggravated tone, "Well, I never told you to drink it. Either way, you need to down the whole thing so you have a chance of the prince releasing you."

"I can release myself thank you very much." Mario said while taking a swig of the drink, trying not to cringe from the terrible taste.

"Oh, you can't. I'll get Jazeep to drag you back." She informed. "Also, I can't allow you to leave per the prince's orders. I could get in quite the mess if I just let you leave."

Mario sank back into the pillows behind him. "Fineeeee I'll stay" He muttered, continuing to sip at the drink. It was disgusting, but if it helped him recover faster, he would grin and bear it. Plus he didn't want to get Sueno in trouble for no reason, even if he doubted Dreambert would do anything serious.

Once he was done drinking the tonic, Sueno walked over, taking the now empty flask from his hands before vanishing into the side room. He heard her voice call out, "I've noticed that your hands are burnt... What happened?"

"Eh?" He glanced at his hands before blinking. "Oh yeah, the scars? That was just me not knowing how to control the Firebrand."

"Firebrand? Isn't that some sort of ancient magic?" She queried.

Mario shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. "I don't know, but probably." After a few more moments of silence, he sat back up. He noted to himself that the pain seemed to have lessened extremely, numbed by the potion he had taken. After another beat of quiet, he asked, "Is everyone else okay?"

"Yes. They only had minor burns and cuts which the star sprite insisted she handled. She said you needed help more than them." She responded. "You had it the worst and Dockep vanished earlier this morning, so I just went with it."

"The Verdes go missing, it's night for an entire day, a dragon appears and the castle medic goes missing?" Mario said. "Something is happening and it doesn't sound good in the slightest."

"Obviously," Sueno grumbled loud enough for him to hear. "I just hope my kind doesn't get too involved like last time or get half the population wiped out."

Mario nodded and they fell into silence once again. He gazed around the room, trying to distract himself from his boredom. The room had barely anything interesting in it except for the various potions that lined some of the shelves.

With a sigh, he sank back into the bed and rolled onto his side. He allowed calm and drowsiness to lap at his mind, slowly dragging him to sleep.

|•~•|⭐|•~•|

The castle halls were mostly silent, but to a certain star sprite, they were deafeningly loud.

This was mostly due to thoughts buzzing in her ears like mosquitos, but it still counted. Not like it mattered, however, she was too busy trying to dismiss these thoughts and not on the debate of whether or not thoughts counted to actual noise.

With the dragon encounter and the startling realization that she didn't know how to use a damned sword, she felt an oddly high amount of pressure already, but it was nothing she couldn't deal with. She had to tackle the issue of the Dark Star with her friends with no notice for gods' sake, she could handle some little villain having a bad day.

Then again, she assumed it was a villain...

And if that villain could cause energy disturbances strong enough to cause magical energy to infect people then that threw several monkey wrenches into things.

Then there was the issue of finding the villain in the first place, trying not to die while getting to them, and handling the issue before too many deaths happened.

Yeah. That was an issue.

She sighed. She could think about this later with the others but first, she needed to fetch Mario. The plumber was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he still could contribute and they were all in this together.

Or were they?

Starlow paused, frowning. She had never considered that her friends may not be up to coming with her. After thinking for a few moments, she continued to make her way down the hallway. She was being slightly selfish, just assuming that her friends would be up to joining her on an adventure that was likely dangerous. She could do this alone.

She spotted the door to the medics which was open and slipped into the cool room. She looked around for a brief moment as soft singing filled her ears before calling out quietly, "Sueno?"

The singing stopped and she heard footsteps. Before long, she saw the pi'illo doctor poke out of the alchemy room, deep brown eyes staring at her for a few heartbeats before she quickly said, "Mario is fine, he fell asleep an hour or so ago. I gave him a pretty strong tonic, so he'll be good to go." She muttered something under her breath that Starlow couldn't quite catch _(likely something about how many herbs they used)_ before raising their voice to a more hearable volume, continuing, "I still won't be able to release him, however."

"Seriously? If he is good to go by your call then who cares?" Starlow asked with a hint of frustration.

"I care! Do you know how annoying my partner is? His relentless attempts to get me in trouble for meaningless mistakes is borderline sabotage! And he has the prince wrapped around his finger and I swear to whatever gods are out there if he gets me removed over Mario leaving I AM _GOING TO-_ "

"Okay, I got the message! Your coworker is a jerk and you hate him." Starlow interrupted. The pi'illo quieted down, grumbling something under her breath but she chose to ignore it. "Look, I'll go grab Dreambert and get Mario released. We need to discuss what we are going to do with everything going on."

"Alright. I'll check over him and make sure he is ready for me to dismiss him." Sueno said, walking out of the alchemy room and going up to Mario's medic bed and lightly shaking him, adding, "Dreambert is probably in his room or the library. The kid has always been a bit of a bibliophile."

"Bibliophile?" She said aloud in a questioning voice.

Sueno looked up and slowly blinked. "Don't you know what that means?" She shook her head. "It means he enjoys reading books than what some people may consider normal."

"Oh. We use bookworm in modern times." Starlow informed. She then turned, adding on, "I am going to get Dreambert, see you in a bit."

"See you." Sueno responded, voice fading into silence as the star sprite left.

She made her way down the hall, making her way to the main lobby. Once she got there, she made her way up the staircase, slightly unsettled by how quiet the castle was... It was mid-morning, so where was everyone?

A shiver trailed down her spine as she made her way down the halls. She let her mind wander to some aimless facts that she stored after reading so many books as an attempt to distract herself from the deafening silence.

Before long she found herself at Dreambert's door. She was about to knock but heard voices

behind the door. She wondered if she should eavesdrop, but decided against it, knocking on the door and quietly waiting.

She heard cacophony erupt from behind the door. She blinked in slight surprise as she heard a slightly raised voice hiss out something in another language. Another voice which she immediately recognized as Dreambert sharply replied in the same language, but he seemed to stammer over his words as if he wasn't as fluent as the other person.

After a few moments of silence, she raised a glove and knocked again. This time she heard shuffling from behind the door. Before long the door opened just a crack, revealing one of Dreambert's sky blue eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Starlow asked. Dreambert nodded before shutting the door. Her eyes widened a bit before she narrowed them, knocking hard on the door, saying in an elevated tone, "Hey! What's the big idea here?"

"Give me a moment!" His voice called from inside the room. After a few more moments the door flung open, Dreambert standing in the doorframe. She noticed how his neck was wrapped up in bandages along with his right arm from where he had been singed and clawed at.

"Do you need something of me?" The prince asked with a soft smile. Despite how calm his tone was, he seemed very tense. She frowned at that and he tilted his head, "Is something amiss?"

"Partially." Starlow said with an imitation of a shrug. "Could you release Mario real quick? Sueno can't apparently."

"Ah, sure." He said, his voice sounding somber. Glancing behind his shoulder, he said, "Eldream, we'll have to pick this conversation up later."

The pi'illo in question appeared by the prince's side. He spared a glance at Starlow, sea-green eyes holding slight frustration before softly saying, "We can't continue to delay this conversation, prince."

"When you begin saying my real name again, then we can talk." Dreambert scoffed. He then grabbed one of Starlow's gloved hands and said in clipped words, "Come on Starlow, let's go."

She blinked but followed anyways, trying to ignore the silence that made her feel hot and uncomfortable. Once they rounded a corner, however, she spoke up, yell whispering to the prince, "What the hell is going on between you two?"

"It's a private matter, do not worry of it." He said with a small shrug. "But, if you are deathly curious, it is to deal with my rule."

"What about it?" She pried. Dreambert sighed, frowning and she quickly tried to backpedal, saying, "You don't have to tell. I get private work matters, you know?"

"It's not an issue." Dreambert said with a small smile. "I can eagerly explain, but first, why don't you tell me why you are truly down here?"

Starlow groaned, muttering, "Orders from Cobalt Star. I really don't want to let them down, but they didn't give me any clues for this either. I was thinking we could brainstorm ideas, then I'll be on my way."

"You're going alone?" He asked.

"Well, I mean, it's a dangerous journey and all. You saw what that dragon could do, and that was supposed to be my lead! A start! Not the entire quest..." She said, staring at the floor.

"That's even more reason not to go alone." He paused for a few moments, thinking about what to say next before adding, "I believe that at least Mario will be willing to join you on your quest."

"You?" She asked. It was a single word, but she felt like she had recited an essay. There was an odd feeling that attempted to drag her down, but she resisted it.

After a short moment that seemed to last eons, he turned to her and gave her a smile, eyes seeming to twinkle as he said with a hint of glee, "Of course."

Starlow felt the heavy feeling escape her, being left with a feeling of being lifted off her feet. The silence in the air became much more comfortable. She wished could stay in this silence forever. A silence filled with complete calm and bliss.

After a few more moments of the perfect silence, Dreambert cleared his throat, speaking up again, "Well, I might as well tell you what's going on with me."

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Starlow responded.

"Well, to put it bluntly, there may be multiple assassins who want me dead." He said absentmindedly.

She whirled to face him, stopping right in front of the staircase. He stopped as well and turned to her, giving her a _'What?'_ look. In a slightly hysterical voice, she stammered out, "A-aren't you slight– No, VERY alarmed over this?!"

"I said MAY, Starlow." He said with a small roll of his eyes. While making his way down the steps, he informed over his shoulder, "We aren't certain, but we believe that there is a group against the monarchy that's on the rise once again. That's why we were out and about today."

Starlow blinked before rushing to hover back to his side. "That still doesn't explain the tension between you and Eldream. Also, what do you mean by 'again'?"

"Well, the group that we were discussing used to be a thing before. They even killed my grandparents before I was born, leaving my father alone." He went silent for a moment, either in respect for the ones lost or just to let in sink in before continuing, "Once my father was old enough to know what he was doing, he sent out a search for whoever was in or supporting the group and slaughtered them."

Starlow shivered. A memory she didn't know she even had of people screaming and the sounds of whips dully roared in her ears before receding back into the depths of her mind. She glanced towards her friend, who held a completely neutral expression as if what his father did was... Normal.

She only managed to quietly say, "Your dad must've been brutal."

Dreambert laughed, shrugging. "Maybe he was, but he was a goof at heart. Now that I think of it, though, it wasn't the last time he did something of this nature."

"What...?" She asked softly, trying her best not to allow her growing terror seep into her tone.

If her horror showed, he ignored it, saying, "You know how in our maps we have the island labeled the as Sleep Isles?" She nodded and he continued, "Well, long ago the island was also inhabited by the–"

"Prince Dreambert! Starlow!" A voice called, cutting him off. She looked towards the voice and saw Sueno, leaning against the doorframe of the medics. Once they got close enough she pushed herself off the doorframe while saying, "For gods' sake, you took a while, but that doesn't matter. Mario's fine, all healed up and Luigi dropped by to check-in. Might as well get what you need to get done while I head out."

With that she stalked off, not allowing them to respond even if they wanted to. Starlow glanced at Dreambert and shrugged. He simply let out a frustrated sigh while shaking his head before entering the room. She followed with a small frown, wondering why he seemed to be upset with Sueno. Sure, the assistant doctor was a bit sassy, but so was herself, so what was the issue?

She hadn't even noticed it before, but Dreambert did tend to throw up some red flags...

"Hey, Starlow, are you up in Dream Land? Is someone trying to kidnap you to keep you in a castle?" A voice asked in a humorous tone. She blinked, ripping herself out of her thoughts at the sound.

She knew for a fact that Mario had said that line and said in response, "Just thinking about the dragon that threatened to put you into a coma."

"I've been through worse!" Mario chirped. "There was the Shroobs, Bowser throwing me off an airship and so on."

"I am just not gonna question how all that went down." She muttered, hovering over and sitting down on the opposite edge of Mario's bed on which Luigi was sitting.

"Good, because those stories take too long to tell." He said with a joking tone. It didn't last long as he went into a more serious one, saying "Okay, with that aside, why did you really come down here?"

"Cobalt Star's orders." She sighed out.

Luigi seemed to jolt up at the name and Mario scowled slightly. The green brother turned to her, asking with a ting of fear, "Wasn't the Cobalt Star just an object and the Spirit inside just a made-up thing to trick us to help out Elder Princess Shroob?"

"Uhm. No?" Starlow slowly said with a blink. "I have no idea what you're talking about... I'll have to ask them about that later."

"Yeah, do that, since that's weird that you don't know since you are the representative of Star Haven." Mario said, expression still grim.

"Psh, just because I am the representative doesn't mean I know about everything. Remember The Dark Star? I didn't know anything about that until we were getting the miracle cures and even then it was the Three Star Sages letting me know that." She shook her head. "Star Haven doesn't tell me anything. Not until it's too late."

An uncomfortable blanket of silence laid upon the room. For a few moments, everyone let that knowledge seep in before Luigi said slowly, "So I am guessing we don't have much to go off of..."

"Yep." Starlow muttered. "All Cobalt Star said to me was that they believe the elemental spikes have to deal with something north-west of the Mushroom Kingdom and that I have to take care of it."

"What about the sword? Did they give you it as well when you were sent on your quest?" Dreambert asked.

She nodded and took out the blade in question. Mario stared at it before slowly reaching out to touch the blade only for it to shock him upon touch. "Ow! What does your sword have against me!" He exclaimed while yanking his hand away.

"The sword used to be wielded by a hero with a pure heart. Apparently, I am their successor, so that's probably why it doesn't like you." Starlow reached into her hammerspace and took out the telescope. "Oh, and they told me to keep this telescope even though they want it more than I do."

"May I see it?" Dreambert pipped up. She handed the telescope over. He looked it over, playing with its dials and adjusting settings with no rhyme or reason. "It seems that it has high amounts of magical energy..."

"No dip Sherlock!" She muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Just look through it, of course it's flippin' magical." He did as instructed, ignoring her attitude and pointing the telescope out a nearby window and looking through it. 

After a few moments of adjusting the lenses, he let out a hum of surprise, commenting, "It seems as though one of the lenses allows you to view magical energy..."

"Well, then what's the point of it? It's not like it's going to help us get down to the bottom of everything." Mario huffed.

"I wouldn't be so quick to assume that." The prince replied softly. His voice was quite distant as if he was focusing on something else.

Starlow pounced on that, asking, "What makes you say that? You see anything?"

"I have a hunch..." He muttered.

"Elaborate, please?" Luigi asked politely.

After a few quiet moments, Dreambert lowered the telescope and set it on his lap, continuing to stare through the window. Slowly, he said, "Maybe... That dragon had something to deal with the disappearance of the Verdes..."

"That's what I thought too." Luigi muttered. "These events are too close together for it just to be a coincidence..."

"Then we gotta go to Somnom Woods." Mario said, sitting up straight. "Maybe if we can find the Verdes, they may know more about what's been happening! Or, who knows, what if this big baddy dispatched some servants? Maybe if there is one, we may be able to interrogate them so we know where to go next!"

"We...?" Starlow quietly said under her breath. 

She thought nobody would hear her silent question but Luigi looked at her, blinking in confusion and asking, "Don't you want help...?"

"I do, it's just a bit... Unexpected you know? Usually, when stars go on a quest they don't seek outside help as it makes them look 'lesser' or 'weak' to others." She said before rolling her eyes and adding on, "It's a whole bunch of garbage, but it's how things are."

"Star Haven sounds gods awful." Dreambert grumbled. "I am not sure why you would bother staying there when everything seems so... Backwards."

"You haven't even BEEN to Star Haven, Dreambert! You have no right to say that!" Starlow snapped. It came out a bit more forcibly than she intended but it was _her_ home! Who was he to insult it so blatantly to her face and not expect her to snap back?

Luigi looked between the two then at Mario who simply shrugged. With a sigh, the younger brother asked timidly, "Can we get back on the topic at hand?"

"Yeah, we don't exactly have all the time in the world. And I'm sick of staying in this bed for several years!" Mario chimed in.

"Bro, it's been less than six hours..."

"Same difference!"

Starlow briefly glanced at the bickering siblings and took a deep breath. "Yeah, we should get ready... I am going to get some fresh air." With that she pushed herself off the bed and into a hover, exiting the room.

She could swear she felt Dreambert's stare as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can now sleep easy knowing that i finally got this done.


	5. Chapter Four~Into The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew makes their way through Somnom Woods, getting separated along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EYO IM BACK AND IT HASNT EVEN BEEN A MONTH, HA!
> 
> Yeah but seriously im proud on this one. It has a word count in the lowerer 2000s but I still managed to get it down in less than a month which is much faster than usual :D
> 
> Also warning! Someone swears in this one. I couldn't resist.

There was a tense air of silence around the group. Everyone must've noticed it by now. It was almost choking at this point.

Despite knowing he was at least partially the cause of this, Dreambert couldn't help being upset. Starlow was blowing this out of proportion! All he did was make a comment based on what he observed, couldn't she understand that? Plus he was worried about how the social climate could affect her! Why was he the bad guy for that?

But then... Maybe he shouldn't have said anything... She was right, he had never been to Star Haven. He should have kept quiet for once. If he just _shut. Up..._

He was shaking. Gods, he felt trapped. The forest seemed darker all of a sudden and the sky was black. How far even were they now? Was he hallucinating? He probably was? Panic attack? Maybe.

He needed to calm down, to just step back for a little. The others wouldn't mind. They'd understand. Also, he could reunite with them later.

He noticed how Luigi seemed distracted with talking to Mario who was in the lead with Starlow who hovered oddly close to the older brother. Subtly, he adjusted his pace, slowing his steps. He fell more and more behind before slipping off, walking in a separate direction.

He made his way through the forest, taking steadying breaths. The stress that the tense environment made before slowly began to evaporate. He should probably try grounding himself...

No. That wouldn't be needed.

Slowly the prince looked at the forest around him. Oddly enough, those few seconds had felt like minutes, or was it vice versa? He wasn't too sure. Either way, he likely should make his way back to the group.

Strangely enough, as he walked, it didn't seem to get lighter out. Actually, it seemed to be getting darker. He thought that the darkness was a side effect of his panic but it seemed as though there was something amiss.

He felt his senses heighten as he heard a branch snap behind him. He tried to ignore it, passing it off as his own damned paranoia until he couldn't anymore, spinning to face whatever was following him.

He blinked in surprise as he saw a dear with a dark brown pelt. "T-that's weird..." He stuttered out, calming down significantly. He walked over to the dear, holding its head in his hands. It allowed him to do so and he smiled, wondering aloud, "Deers are not native to the isles... I wonder who brought you here..."

The deer simply snorted. Dreambert noticed how it was oddly calm. Weren't deers easily spooked?

Also, its eyes were... Off. They stared straight at him, something only found in preditors, but deers were...

Prey...

Slowly, he let his hands fall to his sides before taking a few steps backwards. Fear swirled in his chest and screamed at him to run. He stared at the dear and noticed how its entire left side was devoid of flesh and pelt, stained bloodied rib bones and rotting organs being shown. His fear was overcome by nausea, as he stumbled back, trying to resist the urge to vomit.

"W-what kind of monster are you..?!" He muttered in shock as its hooves turned into hooked talons and fur peeled away to reveal armor made of darkened bones.

It was then that the prince realized that he was likely screwed.

The deer reared up onto its hind legs before slamming down and charging. Snapping out of his fear he ducked behind the tree he was up against. He flinched as he heard the horns of the beast dig into the wood of the tree, sharp points prodding at his back as they pierced the wood.

He pushed himself off the tree. He debated running but decided against it. He could handle this issue himself. He turned and peaked from behind the tree only to see the deer's antler stuck in the tree. He stared at its bony skull before unsheathing his dirk and stabbing it forcefully into the exposed skull.

Cracks spiraled from the impact zone and he yanked the dirk out. He scrambled to make as much distance away from them as possible as the deer let out an aggravated whinny and ripped its horns out of the tree, whipping to face him. A thick white substance leaked from the cracks as the thing stared at him, its single eye staring at him with a restrained hatred as the grass under and around its hooves died, being choked to death by what he assumed was death magic.

Then, it was gone.

The deer seemed to disappear with a swirl of dark red smoke. He simply stood there for a few more moments, glancing around to see if it was just doing this to lower his guard yet saw no sight of the beast.

He calmed down, glancing around the forest before running, darting through the trees. He needed to tell the others what happened. He didn't even keep track of where he was running. He would eventually make it out of the forest...

Unless he went into Deep Somnom Woods...

He shook away that thought and the rumors about the cursed portion of the forest and focused on steadying his breathing. He'd run into the others. He was sure of it.

His hopes were quite thoroughly dashed when he came to a skidding halt, dead leaves spraying into the boiling poison river in front of him. He took deep, panting breaths and looked across the poisonous river.

On the other bank, the trees broke away to reveal a large clearing with trees dotted in-between. Platforms and homes were built around and in the treetops and trees. Beautiful flowers decorated the outside of the naturally overgrown buildings. He couldn't deny it. It was the Verdes home...

Yet nobody was there.

|•~•|

He could hear someone calling for him, but he didn't care.

The prince found himself looking around the clearing. He had checked every building, yet everyone was gone. It was like they upped and vanished. The only clue that something had gone awry was that one of the ThunderBerry trees had been knocked down and that the leader's-Lord Wintergreen's-office had obvious signs of struggle, long deep claw marks on the floor and parts of the wall along with papers and scrolls scattered on the floor. Ink and glass also covered the floor from what he assumed was from an inkwell falling.

To top it all off, the window behind the orangewood desk was shattered, a large hole with some parts of the edges stained with dried blood.

He felt those shattered edges, staring out at the forest. The blood was dried and tinted brown, telling him that this had to at least occur a day ago. Guilt pooled in his stomach as he realized the day he never received a letter back from Wintergreen, whatever caused this must've happened...

He should've done something. Yet he didn't even notice something was wrong.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a familiar voice called, "Ey! Dreambert! There you are!" He looked down and saw Mario looking up at him with an uneasy smile.

"Nobody is here." The pi'illo called down. He jumped out the window. He landed on his feet and strode over. "I looked through every building. It seems as though they vanished without a trace, except for..." He vaguely gestured behind him towards the broken window.

"Hm... I wonder what happened..." Mario softly said while glancing around.

"I think that is what we all are- Wait, where are Luigi and Starlow?" Dreambert asked.

Mario sighed and grumbled out, "We got split up. Something attacked us out of nowhere. I didn't get a good look at whatever or whoever it was, but I don't think it was human."

"Oh, that must've been the deer." The prince absentmindedly said.

"THE _WHAT_?" Mario exclaimed. "Don't tell me the Lord Of The Verdes has ANOTHER hell beast I have to worry about killing me!"

"What? No. I was attacked by a deer when I broke off from the group." Dreambert informed. "I am slightly hesitant to call it a deer, however. Half of its body was decayed, revealing its bones and innards and its hooves turned into talons as it went to attack."

"That's... Disturbing." Mario slowly said. "The smell must've been awful."

He shook his head. "They didn't have a scent."

"Oh, we didn't encounter the same thing then!" Mario said before continuing, "The thing that attacked us smelt so strongly of death that it made me want to vomit even though I got away from them and hadn't smelt them in ten minutes! It was so awful, you're lucky you weren't there."

"I suppose so."

Silence blanketed the two as they struggled to come up with anything else to say. After a few more moments of utter silence, Mario slowly said, "I should probably also tell you... Bedsmith and Peach are also missing."

"Excuse me, **_what_**." Dreambert said coldly in clipped words, staring at Mario. The plumber sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, letting out a low chuckle, causing him to respond in a gradually raising voice, "You _did not_ just tell me that one of two, _TWO_ , electric pi'illos got _kidnapped_ , and the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom _ALSO_ got kidnapped **_again_**."

"Well, we don't know that they were kidnapped..." Mario said slowly in what Dreambert guessed was an attempt to try to calm his slowly growing anger.

It failed miserably which was clear when the prince said with an overly cheery and obviously fake smile, "Hm, yes, how silly of me! I should not have assumed that they had been kidnapped along with the Verdes. It's not as if evidence points to that being exactly the case. I am sure everything is coming up perfectly."

"Ugh, you need to help hanging out with Starlow, she is rubbing off on you too much." Mario grumbled.

Dreambert sighed. "We haven't been recently. She seems upset at me yet I don't know why..."

"It's Starlow, she gets mad at everyone, don't worry about it." Mario said with a small, reassuring smile. "If it's bothering you that much though, then I can ask her what's up for you."

"Please." He muttered in a pleading tone. "It's been bugging me... I just feel so tense around her now..."

"I could tell." The plumber frowned. "Is that why you ran off?"

He slowly nodded and Mario sighed, reaching out and wrapping his arms around him in a hug as he muttered, "You have to talk to people before you run off and almost get yourself killed accidently..."

For a moment Dreambert paused before hugging back, quietly answering, "It's not that easy."

"I know... I just keep saying it because I think it does something..." Mario stayed silent for a moment before speaking again, "I know it doesn't help, and it probably sounds hollow, but I mean it. It's just... Hard to come up with something meaningful to say that hasn't been said a million times."

"I know you mean it and it's fine... Not even I would know what to say to someone in a similar situation." Dreambert muttered before pulling away from the hug. "We should set out and find the others. There is obviously nobody here."

The both of them went to leave, walking towards the edge of the clearing before a laugh, clear as crystals, rang through the air. It had an odd echoey quality to it. The duo turned to look to where the voice was, only to see a human with long braided hair perched on the roof of the cabin from where he had dropped down. Dreambert almost vomited at the putrid miasma that filled the air and at the look of the being, who had rotting skin and maggots crawling out of holes littered on their body.

They seemed to enjoy the way the prince stepped back, cringing at the sight of them. They let out another giggle, voice calling out to them, "'Obviously nobody here?' Your kind are so adorable!" They lept off the roof, standing only a few feet away from them as their only eye looked them over. "You know, that's what everyone thought when I came for the first time! Nobody expects illness and death till it's too late..."

"So you are the culprit of this!" Dreambert shouted, quickly recovering from his nausea, it being swiftly replaced by pure anger. 

The abomination in front of him seemed to notice, perking up with a crooked smile. "Ohoho! Yes, it was! They didn't even see me coming! All snoozing off, deep into dreams... Except that leader of theirs. They put up quite a fight, don't they?"

Dreambert shifted, taking a step forwards and narrowing his eyes. He went to say something only for Mario to block his next step with his arm and ask, "Why did you kidnap all the Verdes?'

"Ah, my motives are none of your concern, but I can tell you one thing..." They took a few steps forwards and their long claw-like fingers reached forwards and gently tilted Dreambert's head up so their eyes met. "You all look pretty to me... And I like that very, _very_ much."

The prince jumped back, shivering with disgust. _"What in gods' name is wrong with you, you fucking pervert!"_ Mario shrieked, bringing Dreambert under his wing in an attempt to protect him.

They only laughed, not even bothering to answer. "Oh, that's for you to find out, darling! I'll be seeing you!"

With that, they vanished in a puff of dark smoke. Slowly, the plumber lifted his wing off his back. He took deep breaths, trying to repress what just happened as quickly as possible. "Are you good...?" The red-clad plumber asked. 

His eyes glittered with concern and he simply sighed, nodding in response. He was actually slightly happy over what they had done. It gave him a good and justifiable reason to skin them alive and execute them.

Breaking his train of thought he saw Mario take a step forwards and kneel, picking something up off the ground. He glanced at the item he was holding before looking up back towards him. "Look at this. They left this once they disappeared." He said, tossing the object which resembled a card up at him.

He briefly read the words on the card before scoffing. "Karon, the harbinger of sickness and death?"

"About to be the former harbinger of sickness and death." Mario joked, getting up with a smirk.

Dreambert simply nodded and smiled. That was a good image to take with him as they left the empty village.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has my permission to murder Karon if you so wished to do so.
> 
> Also yes I did in fact give Dreambert some anxiety, no I will not be apologizing.
> 
> Down to serious business though.
> 
> Im likely going to take longer for the next chapter than even chapter three, because 1) I want chapter five to end with the gang off Pi'illo Island or on their way to leaving, and 2) Im working on adding other short stories that involve Null!AU. They'll take place before Light Fall and there is two. One is basically just me experimenting with Dreambert's anxiety and his relationship with Eldream and the other is where I play with how painful it must be to be elementally corrupted :)
> 
> So anyways, feel free to leave a comment if you want. I read them and appreciate them :>


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